How to pronounce sprawl
Say it like SPRAWL. Sprawl is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce sprawl. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- SPRAWL
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Sprawl pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- SPRAWLSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "aw" in law.
American vs British pronunciation of sprawl
American and British speakers say sprawl in essentially the same way: /sprɔl/ in the US and /sprɔːl/ in the UK.
British respelling: SPRAWL.
What does sprawl mean?
- To sit with the limbs spread out.
- To spread out in a disorderly fashion; to straggle.
- To scoot the legs backwards, so as to land on the upper back of an opponent attempting a takedown.
- An ungainly sprawling posture.
- A straggling, haphazard growth, especially of housing on the edge of a city.
- A defensive technique that is done in response to certain takedown attempts, where one scoots the legs backwards so as to land on the upper back of the opponent.
Where does sprawl come from?
From Middle English spraulen, from Old English spreawlian (“move convulsively”), ultimately through a Proto-Germanic form cognate with *spreutaną (“to sprout”) from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to strew”).
Words that rhyme with sprawl
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of sprawl.
Questions about saying sprawl
How do you pronounce sprawl?
Say SPRAWL. The American pronunciation is /sprɔl/. In British English it is /sprɔːl/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in sprawl?
Sprawl is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: SPRAWL.
Do Americans and Brits say sprawl the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /sprɔl/ and the British form is /sprɔːl/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.